Peregrine of Auxerre
Peregrine of Auxerre (d. ca. 261 AD or ca. 304 AD) is venerated as the first bishop of Auxerre and the builder of its first cathedral. A strong local tradition states that he was a priest of Rome appointed by Pope Sixtus II to evangelize this area at the request of the Christians resident in that part of Gaul. He preached at Marseille, Lyon, and converted most of the inhabitants of Auxerre to Christianity.
At Intaranum –present-day Entrains-sur-Nohain– Peregrine angered the governor after he appealed to the populace to abandon pagan idols; the inhabitants had been dedicating a new temple to Jupiter.
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum states that he was tortured and beheaded at vicus Baiacus (Bouhy) (in present-day Nièvre) during the persecutions of Diocletian.
Patron saint of against snake bites
In the Martyrology
- May 16 Saint Pèlerin, first bishop of Auxerre and martyr